Bolder letters, stronger edges
Thicken every letter on the screen and put a visible edge back on every button, which for many people helps more than making things bigger.
For about ten years, designers drew thin gray letters on pale gray backgrounds because it looked calm and modern. It is beautiful on a designer’s screen in a dim office, and it is difficult to read on a kitchen table at eight in the morning.
Every device now ships with the antidote built in, in three parts. Bold text thickens every letter. Increase contrast darkens the grays until words sit properly against their background. Button shapes puts a visible outline back on things that can be pressed, so a button no longer looks like a word.
The third one solves a specific and common frustration: pressing a word that turns out not to be a button, or missing a button because it did not look like one.
Key points
- Thicken every letter on a phone with one switch
- Push pale gray writing and pale gray backgrounds apart until words stand out
- Give every button a visible outline, so you know what can be pressed
- Swap a whole computer over to hard, high-contrast colors, and back
What to remember
- Bold text and Increase contrast live together under Accessibility, then Display & Text Size.
- Size, weight and contrast are three separate dials. When one is already right, turn a different one.
- On Windows this is called a contrast theme, and it changes the colors of everything at once.
Try this
Open Lantern’s own Settings, find Color and light, and set Contrast to High contrast. Look at this page for a minute, then decide. It changes nothing outside Lantern, so it costs you nothing to find out whether you like it.
Practice: Bolder letters, stronger edges. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.